


back on my beat

by Lokislittlearmy



Category: Power Rangers Battle Strike
Genre: Gen, I might write more of this but I highly doubt it, Jay does drag and it sometimes stresses him tf out, Not Canon Compliant, probably
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-09
Updated: 2019-01-09
Packaged: 2019-10-07 10:38:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,258
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17364437
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lokislittlearmy/pseuds/Lokislittlearmy
Summary: Jay heads out every Saturday night at the same time and comes back late at night. He says it's for D&D but he doesn't take his Gameplay, and why does he have that huge duffel bag? Why does he avoid questions about it?Michael's worried. He takes a couple of the Rangers to investigate.Jay's not so okay with that.





	back on my beat

“Hey, uh, Royelle, isn’t there a blondie with cheekbones that could cut on your no-show list?”

Jay looks at Angel in the corner of his mirror. He has a makeup brush raised to his cheek and he’s halfway through blending out a perfect highlight. “Jason? Why?”

Angel steps up beside him and holds out their phone. There’s a Snapchat video playing on a loop of the audience so far. The volume is turned down, but it’s essentially just a hype video for the cafe’s account. But at the tail end of the video, sitting at one of the tables, are three uncomfortably familiar faces.

Phone in hand, Jay freezes. “What the hell? Why are they here?” He narrows his eyes at the screen. Jason and Braeden each sit on Michael’s side. The three of them look confused and concerned, talking among themselves. 

His watch beeps at him and for once, he just ignores it. Angel’s hand slides across his shoulders in comfort. “Hey, hey, it’s alright. LaQueefah’s got a backup performance if you don’t want to perform.”

“No, no, I would be fine if it was just Jason and some friends. But that’s Jason, my boss, and Braeden.”

“Wait. Friends with benefits Braeden?” Angel shakes their head. “Okay, yeah, sure. It’s okay. Maybe it’s a...coincidence or something.” They meet eyes with Jay, who probably looks ready to pass out. “Or not.” They take their phone back and slide it into their bra. “What do you want to do?”

“I-I don’t know.” Jay looks away, shoulders hunching. “They followed me. Michael asked if I was doing something illegal, and I said no, and he didn’t believe me. I guess he just decided to see that first-hand.” He grabs his own phone. “It’s not like I have much plausible deniability now.”

>Jay R Colbert, Blue [7:13pm]: Go home.

“Ominous,” Angel remarks. 

“I try my best.”

After a few minutes of being on seen, Jay asks Angel to peek out. They look back at Jay and shake their head, a frown on their face. “Sorry, Royelle.”

Jay just huffs and grabs his phone. “No, it’s not your fault. He’s just like that. I’ll give him one last chance and if he doesn’t respond, I’ll message Braeden. He, at least, might listen to me.”

>Jay R Colbert, Blue [7:17pm]: Don’t leave me on seen. Take Jason and Braeden with you.

He starts continuing his makeup. “I’m going to perform. Even if they’re here. I’ll chew their fucking ears off after, but I’m not hiding like some animal in a cage.”

Angel smiles, halfway through gluing their wig down. “I’m proud of you.”

At 7:25, his makeup is done and costume on. He’s hesitant to put on his wig just yet. He sends a message to Braeden.

>Jay [7:25pm]: Michael’s leaving me on seen. Go home, all three of you.  
>Braeden [7:26pm]: Why?  
>Jay [7:25pm]: Just go.

He glues down his wig. It’s fluffy and blue, framing his face perfectly. 

May comes in from announcing the first act and heads straight to Jay. “Royelle, honey, there’s someone out there on your no-show list.”

Jay sighs. “Blondie with a jawline to die for?” Jason does grate on his nerves occasionally, but he can at least appreciate how he looks. He watches May nod. “Yeah, I know. It’s fine.”

He is the third to perform. He spends the entire time before fidgeting nervously. After the fourth time his watch beeps at him, he takes it off and throws it in his bag. He walks to the front with May and runs fake nails through his wig as he steps up to the microphone.

“I don’t have a lot to say for this song. It’s a bop.” He shrugs. Hopefully, the shake in his voice isn’t too noticeable. He left his glasses, so he can’t see a thing. It’s guesswork, putting the mic back and stepping back. He knows where the three of them are, though. Blurs against the windows.

The music starts. It’s a cute little pop song Sophia had playing a few weeks ago during Mariokart. He sways his hips as he steps off of the platform. One heel in front of the other. He sings along under his breath, but it’s not audible over the music. 

Once the chorus hits, he throws in some body rolls. He chooses a random audience member to wink at but avoids the trio against the window like the plague. 

It’s a different state of mind, one that he can not figure out. He feels much more grounded, anxiety seeping through his skin. He still feels the pressure to be exact, but in a different way. Them being there doesn’t downplay his confidence.

He still doesn’t like it. He still feels like throwing up. He knows he’s acting off, just because of how few tips he’s getting. There’s still the back of his mind telling him how screwed he is, and he can’t shut it off. God, it’s frustrating.

He still finishes in a pose, one hand on his hip and one in the air. The applause feels deafening, and he blows a kiss to the audience as he heads to the back. 

Jay sinks into his chair, shaking like a leaf. Angel rests a hand on his knee. “Okay? Breathe. It’s alright. You did it, and everything will turn out fine no matter what.”

“I can’t believe I did that.” Jay covers his nose and mouth with his hands. “I’m so fucking screwed, I can’t-” He cuts off with a sharp sob.

“Hey, hey, breathe through it. Hellfire isn’t raining down on you, and from what you’ve told me, I really doubt that it will.” Angel’s thumb is rubbing circles into his knee.

It takes until intermission for Jay to calm down enough to turn to the mirror. He braids and pries the wig off of his head. He wipes the makeup off. It takes him another few songs to get his costume and fake nails off and packed away, but he does. 

Angel comes back from their performance and sits next to Jay. “They’re still out there.”

Jay checks his phone. No new messages. “Probably either out of courtesy or because they want to wait for me.” His eyes are rimmed red. It’s a combination of scrubbing makeup out of his waterline and anxious sobbing. 

“Do you know what you’re gonna say?”

“To stay the hell out of my personal business? Michael’s my employer, he’s not my fucking dad or anyone close to me-” Jay cuts off abruptly. Because in a way, that was a total lie. Michael is the creator of the Rangers. His group chat name is literally _Battle Strike Dad_.

He sighs, leaning back in his chair. “I just don’t know why he would follow me. And bring Jason and Braeden, of all people.” Because if anyone, Haruka and Sid would be more suited to covering up some illegal stuff. 

“Maybe it was impulsive. People do crazy protective things on impulse.” Angel crosses their legs. “Remember how we talked about different people showing sentiment in different ways?”

“Yeah.” Jay leans forward, resting his elbows on his thighs. “It’s just that Michael lives right down the street. He knows my parents. I can’t let people come too close with this.”

Angel takes a moment to breathe and collect their thoughts. “Jay, I know you don’t want to hear this, but it could be a good thing. You’ve said enough about Michael that I highly doubt he would do anything. Braeden has been keeping your whole situation a secret for a while. Jason doesn’t even have connections to your parents. Maybe this will show you that it’s okay, you can let your guard down just a little bit.”

“I don’t want to have to let my guard down. I’m happy like this, honestly. I like knowing that nobody I know is out there. Knowing the three of them, there was this feeling in the back of my mind that I had to still uphold all my expectations. I couldn’t slip into my usual mindset.”

“I noticed. But that anxiety will fade. I promise.”

Jay nods. “Yeah.”

He has everything packed and ready to go by the time the show ends. He slings his bag over his shoulder and pulls up his phone to message Michael.

>Jay R Colbert, Blue [10:03pm]: Wait for me outside.  
>Jay R Colbert, Blue [10:03pm]: Please.

He waits a few minutes for people to clear. There’s pictures to be taken. He always waits back here anyway.

>Michael, Battle Strike Dad [10:05pm]: We’re right outside.

Jay spends the time until most people have cleared out scrolling through his phone. He takes deep breaths. SIPS asks him twice if he’d like to go through his process. He says no both times.

By the time he leaves, there’s just staff cleaning up and a couple queens with their friends. Nobody who hasn’t seen his face before. 

The air outside is freezing. He pulls his coat tighter around himself and shoves his hands in his pockets. As promised, the three of them are standing right outside. They all look up at him as he exits. He knows he looks pissed as he storms up to them.

“Why did you follow me?” He doesn’t have anything else he can possibly think to say.

Michael steps forward. “Jay, I’m sorry. I thought you were doing something illegal, with how secretive you were being. I was worried. I brought Jason and Braeden so that they could help me hide anything if needed.”

Jay blinks, looking at the others. “Okay, that’s real ride or die. But—and no offense, guys—wouldn’t Haruka and Sid be way better for that?”

Silence falls for a moment as Michael thinks of a response. “I, uh, I didn’t think this out perfectly. But I reasoned that Jason and Braeden were the two that were most innocent, so they wouldn’t have problems if they were caught.”

“They wouldn’t have priors.” Jay purses his lips and looks away. He takes a moment to gather himself. “Don’t come here again. Don’t breathe a single word about what you saw to anybody. If this gets back to my parents after tonight, whatever you say won’t matter. Even if you say that you didn’t tell them, I can’t trust that. So if my parents find out about this-” He gestures to the cafe, “-then I will absolutely drop out of the Rangers, and none of you will ever hear from me again.”

For more reasons than one. He knows he’s two seconds away from bawling his eyes out.

Braeden reaches out to touch his shoulder. “Jay-”

“Don’t.” Jay jerks his shoulder away. “You could have asked too.” He looks to Jason. “And I’m not telling the other Rangers.”

“I know,” Jason responds. “I kinda figured.”

The bell over the cafe door chimes. Jay sees Angel in the reflections of the window. He looks back to the trio. “I have to go. I’ll see you at work.” He maneuvers around them and out back.

As soon as he’s in his car, he lets out his sobs. His forehead rests against the steering wheel and now it’s just the silence of night in a small town and the sound of his own crying and white knuckled grips around his steering wheel because he can not fathom a life of not living at home and not being with the Rangers and not talking to Braeden ever again-

He wishes he could tell Sophia.

When he checks his phone a few minutes later, Angel’s already texted him.

>DeVine [10:09pm]: Meet me at the 24/7 diner at 10:30? Ik ur parents aren’t home.  
>Jay [10:19pm]: I’ll be there.

He isn’t ready to drive back home anyway. He knows exactly which diner they’re talking about. He gets there at 10:24 and decides to wait, nursing a red velvet milkshake with extra malt. But he does order some cheese fries and a vanilla milkshake for when Angel arrives.

They come in right as the cheese fries are set down. Angel sits across from him and takes a fry.

“Thanks for being here for me. I wouldn’t have been able to get through this night without you.” Jay takes a sip of his milkshake.

“It’s okay. I consider you a friend, Jay, not just a fellow queen. Even if I would kill for any of the queens.” Angel smiles. “But really, you can trust me. Any time you need me, I’ll be there for you.” They have to purse their lips to keep the smile off their face. “When the rain starts to pour.”

“I don’t need this right now,” Jay says, laughing. 

They settle into an easy silence. Jay starts thinking. Michael said that they couldn’t tell anybody about the Rangers, but because of Zircon’s reach. And that was only Diamond Shores. Not only that, but Zircon would theoretically have no way of knowing that Jay even knows Angel. He could assume that the three of them just had an outing for whatever reason. 

And if he’s not connected to the cafe, and Angel isn’t connected to him or Diamond Shores in general, then-

“Jay, honey? You okay? You’re kind of spacing out there.” Angel looks genuinely concerned, reaching across the table as if ready to pull him out of his trance by the jacket.

The words come out before he can stop them. “Can I tell you something, actually?”

**Author's Note:**

> Cole: But also, I feel like Brae, Michael and Jason are trying to be as inconspicuous as possible.  
> Me: What does that mean for them though?  
> Cole: At the very least, hoodies and sunglasses. At the most, disguises.  
> Me: Oh my god-  
> Cole: Fake mustaches. Just, the whole nine yards.  
> Me: I'm not putting that in this fic but I appreciate it.


End file.
